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Thursday, 23 October 2014

I live in a fairly unusual place in regards to temperature and climate. In the area I live we have a very dry, landlocked climate that is prone to reaching both ends of extreme temperature conditions. Living here requires people to prepare for both incredible warmth and freezing cold, so by living here I've learned a lot about making lolita fashion work for both temperatures.

I've spoke before on wearing lolita in the summer months, but I haven't yet shared any tips on dressing for the other extreme. Today I'm going to share some of my favourite fixes for wearing lolita in winter!

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Coats & Capes

The first and most obvious answer to making your lolita coords suitable for winter is the lolita-style winter coat. Many different brands and indie brands alike release their own winter coats and capes yearly. Styles of these coats vary from basic and versatile designs to the more specific substyle oriented designs.

Most lolita brand coats are suitable for temperatures up to −5 °C (23 °F) but some are useful up to −10 °C (14 °F) on their own. These coats are great for keeping out wind, but may not be very good at keeping in warmth. Ultimately, it really does depend on the coat itself and the materials used in making it. Many of these lolita coats can still handle a cold winter, but will require some layering to do so.

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Long Sleeves & Layering

In my personal opinion, wearing longer sleeves and layering is the key part of keeping warm in the winter. By covering the arms up and layering, any coordinate can be made suitable for winter!

At the bare minimum, it's good to have a long sleeved shirt and opaque tights to wear underneath everything. By wearing tight shirts underneath your blouse and tights underneath your OTKs or ankle socks, it adds an extra layer to trap in heat without drastically changing your coord! Of course, if layering tights underneath your socks isn't your thing, you can substitute tights for your socks instead. Thermal shirts, fleece-lined tights and knit tights are the most useful for keeping heat in on the winter months, but even regular tights and undershirts work well on mild days.

By layering underneath your blouses and socks, you won't have to worry about looking frumpy or wearing mismatching cardigans to stay warm. It also allows for a bit of extra modesty, which is never a bad thing in lolita, haha. On top of layering with your inner layers, you can also add underskirts, cardigans, scarves, gloves, earmuffs, fur collars and other additional pieces to your coord to make it a little bit warmer!

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Thick & Warm Materials

Believe it or not, there are a lot of dresses and skirts that are made just for winter! One of my favourite pieces to wear, Angelic Pretty's Holy Night Story OP was released in the winter and it made from a very thick cotton material. It's so heavy and warm it's almost impossible for me to wear it when it's not a chilly day!

It's good to keep an eye out for new releases in the winter, but if it isn't in your price range, then it's still possible to look on secondhand sales. While these thicker dresses are often much heavier, and shipping often reflects it, it's definitely worth the extra cost to stay warm on those bitterly cold days.

Good materials to keep an eye out for are corduroy fabrics, velvet and velveteen. wool and knits, suede, sheepskin/pearskin and furs. These materials all keep in heat and allow you to stay warmer longer. While it isn't

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Suitable Shoes & Boots

The winter means it's time to put away the tea parties, and say hello to boots and insulated shoes! While tea parties are very cute, the open top of the shoes can allow the cold and wet to hit your feet much easier. You can still wear tea parties in winter, but by wearing boots and insulated shoes, you'll be able to keep your feet warmer. For me, the feet are the first things to get cold and most greatly affect me on a cold day, so it's good to protect them.

While insulated boots may not be the most cute shoes in the world, they are the best at keeping your feet warm and it is surprisingly easy to find some that work with lolita! If you wear a lot of sweet lolita, you can easily find childrens' shoes in cute styles (You just have to convert your shoes size!) and Tecnica even has moon boots for adults in cute styles! For the more classic and subdoed styles, it's actually very easy to find suitable insulated pleather boots at most local shoes stores.

Surprisingly, lolita boots are not as great for winter as one would think! They're fantastic for keeping out water and snow, but aren't very good at keeping heat in, so make sure you have some wool socks or thicker tights to wear underneath them. For an alternative to cute lolita boots, there are many online shops like Dream V and various Taobao stores that sell cute boots. While they may not be specifically branded as lolita items, they are still cute and could easily work with a lolita coord!

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While you might be able to use these tips above to stay warmer and be able to wear lolita easier in these cold months, it's still good to keep in mind that in the most extreme conditions it might not be suitable to wear lolita.

Quite often my province has terrible blizzards, extreme wind and heavy snows. While I love wearing lolita, it would not be as useful in that situation as a very heavy parka and thick winter boots would be. With either extreme in temperature, hot or cold, it is good to take the time to judge if it is a suitable situation to wear lolita or not.

I hope these tips will be helpful and I do hope that you will enjoy wearing lolita in the winter! Winter weather may be dreadful at times, but it's also a wonderful season that is just perfect for wearing lolita. Please keep yourself warm, healthy and hydrated this winter!

Friday, 19 September 2014

This is the third and final part of the Lolita Fashion Beginner's Guide. I've created this to have a short, but in depth guide to help new members of my local comm, as well as others new to lolita fashion that may have a use for it. For part one, see here.

In this section of the guide, I will go into detail on how to purchase lolita fashion online, some recommended stores and scam sites / scammers to avoid.

There are a lot of lolita scammers out there, so you must be careful. There are many different websites that are notorious for being scam websites, the worst being Milanoo. These websites often sell lolita at “too good to be true” prices and feature stolen pictures from other lolita companies. Quite often they will send out low quality and/or damaged items and sometimes even don’t send out the items at all!

Please keep yourself educated and well informed on these websites. You can learn more about Milanoo, their scams and see a list of scam sites here.

As well, please try to avoid buying lolita from eBay and Aliexpress. While some of the stores are safe, they are also filled with scam stores featuring stolen photos and replica sales. There are exceptions buying from eBay, of course, as sometimes used lolita items are sold there safely.

Many lolita stores online sell copies or “replicas” of items created by lolita brands. These items can included dresses, blouses, shoes, purses and more. These items are usually only made when the real items are no longer made or are in high demand. In most situations these are acceptable, though opinions on replicas vary in the community.

A very important thing to keep aware of are print replicas. Many stores create their own copies of new print dresses and skirts created by lolita companies. This is highly frowned upon as it is direct art theft, copying their designs exactly but in much, much lower quality. These lolita companies that make replicas trick girls new to lolita and often say their replicas are the real thing or simply lie by omission and imply that they are their original designs. The two largest print replica makers, DOL/Dream of Lolita and Oojia are guilty of both.

It is actually sometimes more expensive to buy these print replicas than it is to buy good quality lolita items new or secondhand. It is highly recommended to not buy replica print items. As well, print replicas are incredibly looked down upon in many lolita communities, both online and locally, due to their blatant art theft and poor quality.

The first thing you have to do before buying lolita fashion is taking your measurements. While some lolita companies sell pieces in multiple sizes, their S/M/L sizes do not reflect the typical clothing sizes in stores. Lolita items will have their measurements listed, most of the time in centimetres. In order to know if these will fit you, you must take your measurements.

If you want to buy things new and also keep things affordable, there are indie brands such as Anna House, Infanta, Bunny House, and The Floral Notebook. There are also Bodyline and Fanplusfriend, but you have to be careful ordering from them as not everything they sell is lolita even if it's under the lolita category. Both websites sell “cosplay lolita” as well, so be careful ordering from them.

This is a good guide on buying from Bodyline as a beginner, showing examples of the differences between proper lolita and “cosplay lolita”.

Another option for buying lolita is Taobao. Taobao is a Chinese website similar to ebay. There are many different store that sell lolita items. The entire website is in Mandarin so you will need to use translations and dictionaries. Just like the Japanese auction sites, you need to use shopping service to purchase from Taobao. You could also buy from a reseller like MyLolitaDress, GlitzyWonderland, and Loli-Loli Paradise. However, keep in mind resellers do have a markup on their prices and it ranges between them.

Hopefully now you have a good idea of what lolita fashion is and how to start wearing it! Things may seem very new and intimidating at first, but being new is not nearly as scary as it seems! There are many supportive community and endless resources online so you will be able to learn quickly and connect to other lolitas very quickly with just a little bit of effort.

Here are some helpful links and advice that compliment this guide with extra info and topics I may have not covered in my guide:

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

This is the second part of the Lolita Fashion Beginner's Guide. I've created this to have a short, but in depth guide to help new members of my local comm, as well as others new to lolita fashion that may have a use for it. For part one, see here.

In this section of the guide, I will go into detail on "Cosplay Lolita" and Starting a Lolita Wardrobe.

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"Cosplay Lolita" Versus Lolita Fashion

Despite the name, Cosplay Lolita is not actually a part of lolita fashion at all. These clothes are inspired by lolita, but ultimately can't be considered lolita because they don't follow the basic guidelines of the style. These dresses and items are almost always made by cosplay companies trying to cash in on the lolita fashion style. These companies are unaware of what makes a lolita coordinate, aside from maybe one or two elements, so their pieces could never be considered lolita.

These are often the most common reasons why an item may be cosplay lolita:

NO PETTICOAT OR NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR A PETTICOAT - This is the cardinal sin of lolita fashion. In order for it to be considered lolita, in almost all cases, there must be enough room for a full petticoat.

TOO SHORT - Short dresses and skirts aren't unusual in lolita, especially when you consider Angelic Pretty's pieces, but these pieces are often outrageously short. The rule of thumb for beginners to lolita fashion is the dress should be from an inch above the knee to an inch below the knee in length.

BAD MATERIALS - Low quality cotton, see-through fabrics, and shiny satin are all too often used in cosplay lolita. If the lace is scratchy, itchy, messy or thin it is bad lace. These laces are often used in cosplay lolita. Ribbon used in cosplay lolita will often be shiny and easily frayed, unlike the quality satin & grosgrain ribbons used in proper lolita pieces.

INCORPORATE NON-LOLITA ITEMS - Arm warmers, leg warmers, fingerless gloves, maid headbands and other cosplay items are often incorporated into these cosplay outfits. Cat ears and aprons can be worn in lolita, but only if they're high quality. It's very common to see bad quality ears and aprons in these cosplay outfits. If it looks comparable to a Halloween costume, it's most likely cosplay, and not lolita.

It is all too easy to accidentally buy Cosplay Lolita. If able, please check into a local or online community before purchasing any items. Even if you're positive it isn't cosplay lolita, a second opinion from someone experienced in the fashion is a great help when starting to buy lolita pieces.

Cosplay Lolita isn't the only thing mistaken for lolita fashion. There are other Japanese fashions that are often confused for lolita fashion. Himekaji and Himegyaru are the most commonly confused styles. While cute and stylish, these styles don't follow the same guidelines and ideas as lolita fashion. Many items described as "lolita" online may actually be one of these two styles.

When you start wearing lolita, you aren't expected to have a complete wardrobe immediately. It takes time to build your closet. Still, it is reccomended that you buy a few essential pieces at once to build a 'basic' closet when you start wearing lolita fashion. This way you won't be stuck wearing the same outfit every single time you wish to wear lolita.

Here are a few necessary things for your first lolita wardrobe:

1 Petticoat - Make sure your dress(es)/skirt(s) all share the same petticoat-shape. If you have both a cupcake-shaped piece and an a-line shaped piece, then you will need two petticoats right off the bat.

1 or 2 Blouses - Owning a blouse is necessary for this fashion and a good way to start is with a convertable blouse. By buying a blouse that has detachable sleeves, you'll have both a long-sleeved and short-sleeved blouse in one! If you have two blouses make sure that they have different collar styles to keep your coordinates i

1 Pair of Socks and 1 set of Tights - It's good to have both socks and tights not only to keep your wardrobe versatile, but also to be prepared for all kinds of weather. When buying socks, plain knee-highs just won't do. Try to find lolita-style socks that will match your blouse. It will be easier to coordinate with them this way. Solid tights or lace tights are a great investment for a starter wardrobe.

3 Main Pieces (OP/JSK/Skirt) - At the bare minimum it's good to have at least two or three main pieces to keep things fresh. With your pieces you should keep them easy to work with the rest of your wardrobe and match the rest of your items. If you add too many different colours or styles to your wardrobe at the start, it will get very expensive as you’d have to buy matching accessories for each colour/style.

1 or 2 Headdress/Hair Accessories - Make sure they'll be able to match all or most of your main pieces!

Shoes - One good pair of shoes can work, as long as it matches everything. Make sure the colour and style will work with all your main pieces.

Jewelry - Keep things simple to start. Bows, pearls, flowers and other 'basic' lolita themes are the easiest to use for multiple styles.

Depending on your climate, you may need to buy a cardigan, jacket or coat.

Building a lolita wardrobe does take a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. By planning ahead, you can build a strong wardrobe. A good lolita wardrobe is one you can mix and match with. By buying multiple pieces that share something in common, it’s easier to make your wardrobe work to your advantage.

Wednesday, 10 September 2014

My local lolita comm has gained quite a number of new members recently and it's became very apparent that quite a lot of these girls are very new to the fashion and have a lot to learn. I tried to search for an easy to understand guide that explained everything in the fashion but it was almost impossible to find anything. I decided that I would make a guide for them with information from various guides and sources, combined with my personal knowledge.

This guide is not too long considering all the information it contains, but I still must post it in a segmented format for easy reading. This portion of the guide includes the absolute basics on understanding lolita fashion: defining what lolita is, what makes a lolita outfit and an explanation on substyles.

Lolita is a street fashion originally from Japan, but now spread worldwide. Lolita fashion has it’s own unique subculture based on the style. The clothing is mainly inspired by Victorian and Rococo fashion, but also takes inspiration and ideas from other styles and eras.

This fashion movement started in Japan in the 1980’s and has evolved greatly since. Lolita is a fashion heavily influenced by it's rules or "guidelines" of the fashion. These 'rules' however are more meant to show what makes an outfit 'Lolita' rather than limit the wearer. Lolita fashion is not about looking sexy, but is instead about being elegant and cute.

Lolita fashion is known for it’s very complicated outfits. Since there is so much work and different items put together into these outfits, lolitas call them “coordinates” or “coords” since they spend time ‘coordinating’ their items.

Each outfit must have, at the very least:

Petticoat - The most important piece! Every outfit requires one.

Hair Accessory - Hats or hairbows are common and easy to wear.

Dress [JSK/OP] or Skirt - The main focus piece of the outfit.

Blouse/Cutsew - You should always wear a blouse, but there are some exceptions. Try to wear a blouse with every outfit until you’re more experienced with lolita fashion. Blouses can’t be standard-style work shirts, they must be “lolita style”.

Socks or Tights - OTKs, Knee Highs and ankle socks are very popular.

Shoes - Must be lolita style shoes! Converse and crocs need not apply

Hair & Makeup - It doesn't have to be complex, but basic makeup/hair styling is required.

Other items you can add to an outfit include:

Wigs - Not every outfit needs one. When using wigs, make sure your wig suits the style. For beginners wear natural hair colours with classic, natural or pastel colours with sweet, and natural or bright colours with gothic.

Jewelry - Earrings, Necklaces, Bracelets, Rings, etc

Bags - Purses, handbags and sometimes backpacks

Boleros & Cardigans - Good for an extra layer of warmth, as well as a nice layering effect

Jacket/Outerwear - Lolita styled outerwear for colder months

Gloves, Scarves, Wristcuffs and more

There are two very important aspects to a proper lolita outfit: The outfit must have the right shape/silhouette and the outfit must have all the main pieces required. You can learn more about the shape and basic requirements of a lolita outfit here at Lolitafashion.org.

Lolita is a fashion of many different substyles. A substyle is still lolita fashion, just worn in a different way. The big lolita substyles are
Classic, Gothic and Sweet(Ama/Kote). The other styles fall underneath those three.

Over The Top / OTT - An extravagant way to wear lolita, with a large amount of accessories and pieces. Sweet is the most common, but can also be gothic and classic. OTT Classic Lolita is also sometimes known as Art-Lolita in Japan.

Monday, 18 August 2014

It's time for part two on Lolita Fashion in media! In my first article on lolita in the media I discussed lolita fashion examples in anime and video games, their often terrible executions of the style and their few golden examples. In this article, I'm going to focus on live action depictions of lolita fashion, in all kinds of genres and examples.

As for live action examples, surely everyone involved in the style is familiar with Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari) with it's immense popularity. Novala Takemoto can be a little bit eccentric, so it's no surprise that Kamikaze Girls is a little strange as well. Though Momoko can be a little sociopathic, I believe it was a very good depiction of the style at time. I'm very happy that it has gained the popularity it has over the past ten years!

No need to talk too in depth about something so well-known to the lolita community though, what of the other depictions that we as a community may have missed?

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The most recent example of lolita in live action form, as far as I know, is Nuiguruma Z! Nuiguruma Z, or 'Gothic Lolita Battle Bear' as it's known internationally, is a tokusatsu film starring Shoko Nakagawa. In this film Shoko is a lolita named Yumeko, who along with her teddy bear, battle an army of undead by transforming into the hero Nuiguruma Z!

This film features Baby the Star Shine Bright in a collaborative effort. All of her clothes, when she isn't in her skin-tight super hero outfit, are supplied by BTSSB. The featured dress in the title is Baby's Princess Liddell’s Ice Cream Cake OP. The original dress was released in 2012, but there was a re-release of the set in early 2014 to coincide with the movie's release.

The film is on par with the director, Noboru Iguchi's usual fare. It's super violent, extra bloody and not for the faint of heart. However, it's funny, clever and entertaining still! Despite the strong ties to BTSSB, the film does unfortunately refer to her style incorrectly as "gothic lolita" throughout the movie. It's not the best movie ever made, and definitely not the best to represent lolita, but it's a good watch nonetheless.

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It seems like lolita fashion in tokusatsu is a popular trend! The ever popular Super Sentai megaseries has a television show, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, which also features a character that wears lolita!

The show features Yui Koike who plays Ahim de Famille. Ahim is the pink ranger of the team, Gokai Pink. When she's not in her sentai form, she wears lolita from many different brands! Much of her wardrobe consists of items from Metamorphose, Atelier Perriot and Victorian Maiden!

Despite being the pink ranger, she is often seen wearing many cream and brown outfits. She does often accessorize with pink items, however, and usually has a pink jacket worn overtop her lolita outfits! I think she is honestly one of the best examples of lolita fashion in live action form, despite often wearing non-lolita-style boots for running around in.

Another example of lolitas in the Super Sentai universe are Nai & Mea! Nai & Mea are henchmen featured in Mahou Sentai Magiranger. Magiranger ran from 2005 to 2006, so their style is a little outdated and costumey, but it's still a fairly good example for its time.

They dress in a strange gothic/punk blend but it really works for their playful and imp-like behavior! Mea is more accurate in depicting lolita fashion with her full skirt and princess sleeves, but Nai still shows a lolita-style influence in her clothing! While their style is really different, I really love their dark, but cute, look!

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Kamen Rider Wizard is another tokusatsu show that features lolita fashion, but not nearly at the same extent as Gokaiger.

One of the characters, Koyomi, wears a unique and comfortable style. While she does wear lolita items, both brand and otherwise, they usually aren't worn in the 'normal' lolita way. Most of her outfits are reminiscent of "old fashion" English clothing, dolly kei and cult party kei with their lack of petticoats and often short skirts. They all share a strong earthy and old fashion feel to them, featuring many browns, greens and other neutral tones.

It wasn't until the movie, 'Kamen Rider Wizard in Magic Land' that there was a lolita outfit proper, worn in the traditional lolita style, in the series! The film actually features a collaboration set by Metamorphose as a tie-in. The collaboration set, which included the Gold Braid Tuck Pinafore Dress, had incredible popularity and it is surprisingly cute too!

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The last live action example I'm going to share is one of my favourites, Deka Wanko. If you want to see something that isn't tokusatsu, this is a great one for you! No transforming sequences or aliens here, just a lifestyle lolita doing her job!

Deka Wanko is a tv drama, based on a manga by the same name. The show features Mikako Tabe as Ichiko Hanamori, or "Wanko" as she's called by her colleagues. Wanko is a young woman who is a homicide detective for the Tokyo Police. In her day to day, at work or at home, she is always seen wearing lolita fashion! Even her pajamas and loungewear have a cute, lolita-inspired look! Sometimes her clothing leads her into dangerous or embarassing situations, but Wanko is a character that sticks to her morals and won't change for anyone, clothing or otherwise!

The show is officially sponsored by Angelic Pretty, so most of the clothing in the show is by them. Quite often you'll also see Wanko wearing Meta and Maxicimam as well. Sometimes Bodyline is featured worn by secondary and background characters, oddly enough. Their outfits are usually worn in a more traditional lolita style, and very simply at that.

Wanko has a very original sense of style, and though they do fit the lolita aesthetic, she often pairs lolita in an unusual and unique way. The show is filmed in the fall or winter, so she often wears sweaters and cardigans under her JSKs. Personally I love the way she wears her clothing, but others may disagree and consider it too different and gaudy.

Her outfits may be a little strange, but I think the show is a fantastic example of the fashion as it shows the lolita style in a good light and also shows the "lolita lifestyle" with a really positive outlook towards it! Unfortunately the show is only 10 episodes long, but it received enough popularity to later release two television specials!

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There are a plethora of lolita characters in live action media, I could not have listed all the examples of lolita fashion. There are so many characers who dress in lolita inspired styles and items borrowed directly from lolita brands! Despite the large amount of these characters in popular live action media today, I find there still isn't a modern-day representation as accurate as Kamikaze Girls yet.

I'm very happy with the few characters that are visibly wearing lolita fashion, but I'd love to have a Kamikaze Girls for the mordern day lolita. Wanko is a good example, but I find it isn't as directly relateable or influencal as Kamikaze Girls.

What do you think - Do we have a modern day Kamikaze Girls-like live action representation of lolita? What do you think about the listed examples above?

Friday, 1 August 2014

As it is in any style of fashion, lolita fashion trends come and go with the time. In lolita, some can be are harder to predict than others. It was obvious to see the growing trend of classic lolita from 2010 until now, but who could have predicted head-eating headbows when rectangle headdresses were de rigueur? Being an old school lolita at heart, I'm still shocked to see skirt lengths getting shorter and shorter.

Trends will always change, but it's still surprising to see them when they first emerge. Still, it is fun trying to predict them! Today I'm going to share what I think the next big thing will be, as well as share a few fun ideas of my own that I would like to see be "big" in the fashion!

With the recent trend of OTT classic explosively reaching new heights, I wouldn't be very surprised if we started to see more giant "head-eating" hats worn in the fashion. Hats are common in lolita, but usually only in 'normal' sizes or in the minihat variety. While the large style of hats have been worn before in coords, as seen here and here, it is still an uncommon style to wear. However, I have been noticing big hats have been getting more popular!

Do you think we will start seeing rococo hats, and maybe even hairstyles, worn commonly sometime soon?

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A Trend I'd Like To See #₁

Wa Lolita Style Blouse

I know, this sounds horribly outlandish and I know many immediately think "ita" when they see wa lolita, but I think if it's done well and tastefully it can look really nice. I prefer wa lolita that follows a very traditional kimono aesthetic, using solids or muted prints instead of the bright sweet lolita prints or black/white/red combo that seems to be so common with wa lolita. I think using classic techniques such as traditional embroidery and beading would also suit the lolita aesthetic really nicely.

A nice tailored blouse, with kimono-style sleeves could work very nicely underneath a JSK, or even over-top a skirt with a nice obi or lolita-friendly belt. I would love to have a insert for the blouse, similar to how detachable yokes work, in order to make the blouse look more formal. It would be much less hot than adding multiple layers of kimono tops. One could even add nice cotton lace to the inside layer in order to make it more suitable for lolita!

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Upcoming Trend Prediction #₂

Chiffon/See-Through Overskirts

It's already been done before with Angelic Pretty's Day Dream Carnival but the concept hasn't been seen in many brand releases much beyond that. Despite this, there are quite a few indie brands and independent seamstresses experimenting with them and creating their own overskirt designs!

Since the sheer look is currently being popularized with the peignoir trend I think this one will be just as popular! I can either see this trend gaining vast amounts of popularity or completely failing to miss the mark. If people don't get too sick of the peignoir look, this is a much more easy to wear and accessible way to have that sheer, transparent look in outfits without struggling to make peignoirs "fit" in a traditional lolita coord!

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A Trend I'd Like To See #₂

Medieval and Renaissance Inspired Lolita

Sleipnir by Ergi (left) was inspired by Vikings, while these dresses by Cloudberry Lady (right) are renaissance-themed.

This one is a bit of a stretch, possibly wishful thinking on my part, but I do believe this could be a common trend! We've already seen it been done a few times from indie brands, but nothing really from the big brands.

I don't think lolita should just be limited to be inspired by Rococo and Victorian. The medieval and renaissance periods have some beautiful styles of cuts, bustiers, sleeves and design motifs in general. Rennaissance clothing is especially opulent! Right now would be the best time for this trend to emerge, as BTSSB's designs are getting more and more regal and fancy with each release!

I know it is quite different from the normal styles of lolita, but I do really hope the trend grows, with more and more people inspired by these eras.

Short veils have been popular in lolita for a long time, but full, long veils have always been reserved to the bride-themed coordinates. Long veils are capable of looking elegant and innocent as well as ghostly and eerie. They can be incredibly versitile and work with both classic, gothic, and sweet! I'm actually surprised they haven't gained huge popularity already.

Lately long dresses, lacy underskirts, and ultra-opulent dresses like CDC have been intensely popular. After experiencing it in 2008, I can say firsthand lolita is going through a huge shift right now with how the style is overall and I wouldn't be surprised if longer veils skyrocketed into popularity!

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A Trend I'd Like To See #₃

Kokoshnik Headwear and Tiaras

On both sides of my family, I have strong Ukranian and Russian heritage. Since I was a child, I was always fascinated by the cultures of my various familial backgrounds. It is because of that passion for cultures, and my love for fashion, that I hold kokoshnik dear to my heart.

Kokoshnik is a style of headdress worn in Russia from the 16th to 19th century. In the early 19th century, the kokoshnik was adapted into a style of tiara. They are made in many different styles, shapes and sizes. They are still worn, but only in special occassions and when traditional dress is worn.

I find them so incredibly beautiful and elegant. I would love to see them worn in lolita, in any of the styles. The formal nature of the headdress, with how elegant and beautiful they are, would work wonderfully in lolita fashion. With how popular the 'Maria' Halo style crowns are lately, I think these really could be received well with the fashion.

I can only hope, if kokoshnik do become worn in the fashion, that they would be worn elegantly and with dignity.

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I hope you enjoyed reading this! What do you think the next trends for lolita fashion will be?

Thursday, 26 June 2014

When I started wearing lolita, however many years ago that was, making your own lolita fashion items was the "in" thing. It wasn't as difficult to find lolita pieces as it was the years prior, but it seemed like handmade items still had its hooks in the community! Lately I've been noticing that the trend seems to have completely dissipated: Is handmade lolita really no longer an aspect of the fashion?

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When I had originally joined EGL, back in 2007, the community and its other sister LJ comms were, as far as I know, the only large-scale lolita communities back then. It was actively used with many posts being shared in a day. In the days of old, people had often shared their photoshoots with posts on EGL. After seeing some beautiful handmade items being showcased in one of those many photoshoots, I did some searching and found the Sew_Loli community.

Though I never got my nerves to calm down enough to actually post to Sew_Loli, it inspired me very to work towards making my own handmade pieces. Back then it seemed like everyone else posting were experts at their craft and my pieces weren't exactly desirable, haha. I was inexperienced in sewing but I had definitely learned from the community. It's surprising to see the community is still going strong!

Looking at the archives for Sew-Loli in May 2008, at the same time as the photoshoot above, there were eighty single posts in that month alone! In the May of this year there was only six posts made. Is it true that handmade lolita is a thing of the past? Is it simply the case of Livejournal communities becoming less popular over time?

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I decided that I would hunt for the 'modern' handmade lolita! I had managed to find a few tumblr blogs, but they both have seem on permanent hiatus since a few months back. I can find two lolitas well known for their handmade items, but it seems that I can't find much beyond that.

So what happened to handmade lolita? What happened to sewing your own pieces? I think I have a good idea.

It seems like there has been an explosion of indie brands over the past few years. More and more are coming out of the woodwork, either by selling dresses, accessories, and other pieces suited to lolita fashion. Listing them all would be nearly impossible! This list created last year features indie brands, both large and small, compiled together! While it only lists indie brands that make clothing, it still is amazing how many different small indie brands there are listed there. Imagine if it featured every single Etsy and Storenvy shop that make lolita accessories!

From what I can see, it seems like lolitas haven't given up making their own handmade items, they've just decided to share their talents with the world!

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In my opinion, making your own pieces and accessories is one of the most fun and enjoyable aspects of the fashion. Even if you don't have any experience in sewing or crafting, it's a fun and worthwhile reason to learn. While crafting can be both inexpensive and very pricey, depending on the materials, making something one of a kind for yourself or others is definitely worth the time and effort.

How do you make your own lolita items? It's simpler than you'd think.

There are many lolita sewing and crafting tutorials online. You can find a few common, but useful, tutorials listed here. The post is a little old, but still useful! You can find more tutorials here, at FYeahLolita, as well.

Gothic Lolita Bible magazines include patterns and instructions every issue! While all the instructions and patterns are in Japanese, they are still easy to follow. There was a few English GLBs released, but they're no longer in production. However, it is fairly easy to find them secondhand.

There are also Japanese books dedicated only to handmade lolita patterns and sewing. These books, Otome no Sewing, are fairly easy to find online. They are only in Japanese.

Have you never sewn before? There are many easy to learn tutorials and projects online! My favourite website for beginners is HowToSew.

In order to sew, you don't need a sewing machine. You can handsew all your pieces, but it will take much more time and effort.

There are many places you can find supplies to help you in your handmade lolita adventures. For fabric, my favourite place to go is Fabric.com. Another favourite of mine is Etsy. It's easy to find fake flowers, lace, cabochons, Japanese fabrics and other handy materials. Many people use Taobao for their crafty supplies, but unfortunately I don't know much about that or where to look.

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I hope I was able to help you all today! If you have any questions or would like help with your handmade lolita projects, please let me know and I'll help you as well as I'm able!

About Me

☆ Hello! I'm Dreamymint. ☆

I am a 24 year old lolita from Canada. I have been wearing lolita fashion since 2007. I adore lolita fashion and I have been deeply immersing myself in lolita culture ever since I discovered the fashion many years ago !

In this blog I post articles on lolita fashion and tutorials, as well as occasionally write on meetups and events I attend.